WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.399 Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast. 00:00:02.560 --> 00:00:07.040 We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ. 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:08.640 Thanks for tuning in. 00:00:20.160 --> 00:00:23.120 We're so thrilled to have you join us this Super Bowl Sunday. 00:00:23.199 --> 00:00:41.039 I want to invite you to go ahead and check. 00:00:42.719 --> 00:00:43.359 I don't know. 00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:44.320 I'm loud though. 00:00:44.479 --> 00:00:46.000 Am I in the house though, too? 00:00:47.039 --> 00:00:48.799 I thought you guys were just ignoring me. 00:00:48.960 --> 00:00:50.719 I was a little her, you know. 00:00:51.759 --> 00:00:57.679 Um, hey, as we begin today, I I want to, before we dive into the sermon, I have two things that I want to cover. 00:00:57.759 --> 00:00:59.600 One was planned, one was not. 00:01:00.079 --> 00:01:05.760 Uh the first is I always wrestle with when do I address stuff that's happening in our world. 00:01:06.239 --> 00:01:08.159 Um, and I felt like this is appropriate. 00:01:08.319 --> 00:01:18.079 Last Thursday, President Trump posted a racist video dehumanizing former uh President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama. 00:01:18.640 --> 00:01:19.760 Let's be clear. 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:22.560 That's evil, it's wrong. 00:01:22.799 --> 00:01:26.159 That's not political, that's moral. 00:01:27.280 --> 00:01:32.319 As Christians, we follow a Middle Eastern rabbi who was executed by Rome. 00:01:33.359 --> 00:01:40.480 Jesus lived under empire, suffered injustice, was publicly humiliated, yet the response was to call out evil. 00:01:43.920 --> 00:01:45.359 It's gonna be real loud. 00:01:45.519 --> 00:01:46.079 There we go. 00:01:46.319 --> 00:01:48.159 And and love his enemies. 00:01:50.159 --> 00:01:52.000 Racism must be named. 00:01:52.480 --> 00:01:58.879 Dehumanization is a direct violation of the truth that every human being is made in the image of God. 00:01:59.840 --> 00:02:06.239 When that image is mocked or denied, especially by those in power, it's an offense to the heart of God. 00:02:07.519 --> 00:02:11.680 To our black brothers and sisters, we see you, we grieve with you, and we stand with you. 00:02:13.120 --> 00:02:18.240 Our allegiance is not to a party or a politician, but to Jesus and his kingdom. 00:02:19.120 --> 00:02:28.479 May we be a people who speak the truth with courage, reject cruelty in every form, and reflect the love and character of Christ in a fractured world. 00:02:29.360 --> 00:02:30.000 Amen. 00:02:32.960 --> 00:02:40.719 I hate that that's the state of the world that we live in that I even have to start there today. 00:02:41.919 --> 00:02:53.120 And so, Jesus, you invite us to pray, our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 00:02:54.879 --> 00:03:03.759 Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 00:03:04.240 --> 00:03:09.439 And so in this moment, in our day, for us, give us this day our daily bread. 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:20.479 And as it's so easy to look out and see the faults and wrongs of others, forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. 00:03:22.159 --> 00:03:26.560 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. 00:03:27.680 --> 00:03:32.560 For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory. 00:03:32.879 --> 00:03:34.479 Forever and ever. 00:03:35.520 --> 00:03:36.159 Amen. 00:03:38.319 --> 00:03:41.360 The second thing's way better, okay? 00:03:42.879 --> 00:03:50.560 Um, our mission as awakened, the reason we exist is we exist to awaken this generation to new life in Jesus. 00:03:50.719 --> 00:03:55.919 Several years ago, three years ago to be exact, we wrote down a vision statement. 00:03:56.000 --> 00:04:00.000 A vision statement is just a picture of a preferred future. 00:04:00.080 --> 00:04:06.400 It's uh what should be and could be in light of what currently is. 00:04:06.560 --> 00:04:08.159 And we wrote this down. 00:04:08.479 --> 00:04:22.000 Through the power of the Spirit and the intentional equipping of every generation, the heartbeat of awakening will be that we are ascending church of college students and young professionals that are deeply rooted in their faith and calling. 00:04:22.079 --> 00:04:23.199 And really exciting. 00:04:23.360 --> 00:04:29.360 We're just seeing colleging young professionals uh flock to Jesus right now and to awakenings. 00:04:29.600 --> 00:04:30.879 Really exciting. 00:04:31.120 --> 00:04:44.879 Uh, with a new facility, we'll create a training center to raise up a church filled with people who hunger for the presence of God, with the people of God, whose hearts breaks for those who are far from Jesus and are moved with compassion to mend the injustices in our world. 00:04:45.199 --> 00:04:50.560 Our facility will be a resource for the community to meet the needs of our city. 00:04:50.800 --> 00:04:56.240 So, one thing I want you to first notice do you hear our vision in alignment with our word and theme of the year pursue? 00:04:56.319 --> 00:04:58.879 We long to passionately pursue the heart of God. 00:04:58.959 --> 00:05:02.560 What does it look like to be a church that passionately pursues the heart of God? 00:05:02.800 --> 00:05:13.199 The other thing is something that you may not have given a lot of thought about unless you're part of our space and setup team, is that we are pursuing a long-term location. 00:05:13.360 --> 00:05:15.439 We have been for years now. 00:05:16.079 --> 00:05:25.360 Um last Sunday, we took some of our core of awakening to go see in a potential location for us. 00:05:25.839 --> 00:05:31.040 Um, yeah, and there's gonna be some of you excited, the rest of you need to serve on Space Team. 00:05:31.279 --> 00:05:36.000 Um by myself. 00:05:38.720 --> 00:05:43.199 We are in the early stages of negotiations here on a location. 00:05:43.680 --> 00:05:46.879 And as we get more detail, I'll bring you in on this. 00:05:47.040 --> 00:05:52.399 Um, what we can say is Delmar has been just an incredible home for 13 and a half years. 00:05:52.560 --> 00:05:54.560 We are maximizing this space. 00:05:54.720 --> 00:05:56.480 We do not have midweek space. 00:05:56.720 --> 00:06:03.680 Constantly we run into like our fourth and fifth grade class had to move because the room we used is no longer available to us. 00:06:03.759 --> 00:06:08.560 Uh, we don't know whether we have parking on a given Sunday and different spaces alike. 00:06:08.720 --> 00:06:12.079 And then midweek, we just, I mean, this is really exciting. 00:06:12.240 --> 00:06:19.199 Jenny gets a text that uh our c we have a college girl small group that meets at um Paris Baguette. 00:06:19.360 --> 00:06:20.720 It's awesome, right? 00:06:20.879 --> 00:06:23.040 Uh and it just keeps growing. 00:06:23.199 --> 00:06:26.240 There's like 14 college girls showing up at Paris Baguette. 00:06:26.720 --> 00:06:27.439 It's amazing. 00:06:27.519 --> 00:06:29.680 They're like, I think we need a bigger space. 00:06:29.839 --> 00:06:39.120 We don't have any space for them to go to because our office that we do have is completely maxed through uh on Mondays and through the week. 00:06:39.279 --> 00:06:47.040 And so it's time for us to take next steps to have a permanent footprint here in Silicon Valley to lighthouse for this generation, for this area. 00:06:47.199 --> 00:06:50.240 And so, a couple things that I'm gonna ask us to do. 00:06:50.720 --> 00:06:55.600 One, I just want to let you know, Delmar, uh, we serve and love this campus. 00:06:55.759 --> 00:06:58.959 Nothing is gonna change regardless of where we meet. 00:06:59.120 --> 00:07:07.040 Uh, secondly, four things I want to ask you to commit to with us in this season, because we're getting serious. 00:07:07.680 --> 00:07:10.720 We're not engaged yet, but we're dating with this building, okay? 00:07:10.879 --> 00:07:13.519 Uh we're getting serious. 00:07:14.480 --> 00:07:16.639 One, would you pray for wisdom? 00:07:16.959 --> 00:07:18.720 We need wisdom. 00:07:19.439 --> 00:07:22.480 Uh the second, we need faith. 00:07:22.720 --> 00:07:24.240 This is a big step. 00:07:24.560 --> 00:07:27.279 It means taking some steps into the unknown. 00:07:27.439 --> 00:07:29.680 We've been here 13 and a half years. 00:07:29.920 --> 00:07:35.839 Um would you uh pray that um we would have favor with the landlord? 00:07:36.079 --> 00:07:38.560 That's been a big issue, and right now we do. 00:07:38.639 --> 00:07:39.839 We just want to continue to that. 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:46.959 And then the final one, so uh wisdom, faith, favor, and then the last one's provision. 00:07:47.519 --> 00:07:52.879 So it's gonna require more and cost more, and we need God to provide. 00:07:53.040 --> 00:08:07.600 And so would you just begin to pray, God, would you begin to provide for us in ways as a church that we can step into this next season to be able to fulfill our mission of awakening this generation in the way we believe you've called us to see do it. 00:08:07.839 --> 00:08:19.680 And as we see God's grow our community, our heart is to create a family of churches by planning and awakening churches to reach this generation and the renewal of culture through God's word, spirit, and people. 00:08:21.040 --> 00:08:21.680 Amen. 00:08:23.199 --> 00:08:23.839 All right. 00:08:25.439 --> 00:08:28.079 You want to let's go to the sermon, I guess. 00:08:28.160 --> 00:08:29.120 Let's do that. 00:08:30.160 --> 00:08:32.799 We're in a series called Messy Spirituality. 00:08:32.879 --> 00:08:35.440 We kicked it off last week. 00:08:36.480 --> 00:08:38.720 And life is messy, isn't it? 00:08:40.399 --> 00:08:47.120 And something we don't talk about enough is walking with Jesus is messy. 00:08:49.759 --> 00:08:57.679 It's it tends to be messier than most churches care to mid, and messier than what our Sunday morning smiles show. 00:09:00.879 --> 00:09:08.720 We long for real deep change, but what do you do when trying harder only leaves you exhausted? 00:09:10.960 --> 00:09:15.440 When the patterns you hoped would be gone by now, well, they're still there. 00:09:17.440 --> 00:09:24.399 And the question that lingers that we wrestle with is will I ever really change? 00:09:26.080 --> 00:09:33.440 How do you embrace a messy spirituality that actually makes a difference? 00:09:35.200 --> 00:09:45.840 We kicked off messy spirituality and said this confession of a messy spirituality, which by the way is the only kind of spirituality that works, but the confession of messy spirituality is this. 00:09:45.919 --> 00:09:46.879 You ready for this? 00:09:47.120 --> 00:09:48.720 I am a mess, go for it. 00:09:50.159 --> 00:09:52.080 I can't unmess myself. 00:09:54.240 --> 00:09:55.519 Only Jesus can. 00:10:04.879 --> 00:10:06.080 I'm a mess. 00:10:06.639 --> 00:10:10.240 We all show it up in some form, a bit of a mess. 00:10:10.399 --> 00:10:13.600 We may cover it differently or better, but we are. 00:10:13.840 --> 00:10:18.320 And our best efforts cannot undo that, only Jesus can. 00:10:18.399 --> 00:10:19.759 Now, here's what's exciting. 00:10:19.919 --> 00:10:32.639 Last Sunday was what we're we call an invite Sunday, a great Sunday to invite those who are in your life that are spiritually seeking, looking, to say, hey, come on, this is gonna be a fantastic Sunday to just come uh explore spirituality, explore Jesus. 00:10:32.799 --> 00:10:36.080 30 plus people responded to the gospel last weekend. 00:10:36.320 --> 00:10:37.840 Isn't that awesome? 00:10:39.120 --> 00:10:46.799 And I keep hearing different stories of people, one watching online and uh elsewhere, that just God's working and moving. 00:10:46.960 --> 00:10:54.799 We saw college students inviting roommates and friends, high schoolers inviting family and classmates, young professionals, inviting coworkers. 00:10:54.879 --> 00:10:56.879 It just wasn't the way to go, church. 00:10:57.200 --> 00:10:59.279 That was awesome. 00:10:59.679 --> 00:11:01.600 God is working. 00:11:02.399 --> 00:11:11.360 Today in our time together, I want to talk about the messy middle that we find ourselves in. 00:11:12.879 --> 00:11:16.000 Like, how do you live out this new life with Jesus? 00:11:16.159 --> 00:11:17.120 I'm a mess. 00:11:17.279 --> 00:11:18.080 Thanks, Ryan. 00:11:18.240 --> 00:11:21.440 I can't unmiss myself perfect, only Jesus can. 00:11:22.399 --> 00:11:24.399 Okay, what do I do now? 00:11:26.559 --> 00:11:34.159 The moment you place your faith in Jesus, the Holy Spirit of God brings about what's a spiritual birth, new life, and awakening. 00:11:34.320 --> 00:11:39.279 Those who have stepped into this new life, it's like seeing for the very first time. 00:11:40.159 --> 00:11:43.279 Your heart is set afire, purpose, meaning, and joy. 00:11:43.440 --> 00:11:45.120 You infuse your life. 00:11:45.200 --> 00:11:50.080 You find some things that you once did you no longer have a desire to. 00:11:50.480 --> 00:11:57.519 You have a passion for reading God's word and sharing your life change with everyone you meet. 00:11:57.679 --> 00:12:00.240 You ever been around someone that just came to know Jesus? 00:12:00.399 --> 00:12:02.320 They're just like on fire. 00:12:03.440 --> 00:12:05.120 You remember when you did? 00:12:06.639 --> 00:12:11.919 Because the one you were searching for and longing for, you found in Jesus. 00:12:12.639 --> 00:12:21.679 But then one day, one day you started to notice something, a tension in your soul of this wrestling. 00:12:23.440 --> 00:12:26.639 You began to realize a problem. 00:12:26.799 --> 00:12:32.159 And the problem is this that I brought my old mess into my new life with Jesus. 00:12:33.759 --> 00:12:37.600 I brought my old mess into my new life with Jesus. 00:12:37.919 --> 00:12:48.960 In fact, if you stepped into faith with Jesus as a teenager, as a 20, as a 30, as a 40, you are experiencing a tension you never had before. 00:12:49.360 --> 00:12:54.960 And the tension is this you find yourself doing the very things you don't want to do. 00:12:56.399 --> 00:12:59.840 And though you don't want to do them, you find that you keep doing them. 00:13:00.080 --> 00:13:02.960 You didn't experience this tension before. 00:13:03.279 --> 00:13:04.720 You're just like, yeah, I'm good. 00:13:04.799 --> 00:13:06.000 I'm good with it. 00:13:06.320 --> 00:13:09.759 You promise you'll stop, you'll change, but you find that you keep doing them. 00:13:09.919 --> 00:13:15.600 On top of that, you're not doing the things you really want to do or responding the way you want to respond. 00:13:15.759 --> 00:13:19.440 The Bible calls this, it's a technical term, the flesh. 00:13:20.240 --> 00:13:26.320 Our sin nature, our old patterns, attitudes, actions, thought patterns, instincts. 00:13:26.480 --> 00:13:30.559 It's our default ways of living apart from God. 00:13:31.759 --> 00:13:43.200 That spirituality may have you have been made alive and new, and now at the same time, you've brought your old mess with you into this new life. 00:13:43.440 --> 00:13:49.039 The Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 7 speaks to this very tension, this problem. 00:13:49.360 --> 00:13:52.960 I like how Eugene Peterson unpacks it in the message. 00:13:53.279 --> 00:14:00.879 He says, something has gone wrong deep within me, and it gets better the better of me every time. 00:14:01.120 --> 00:14:03.840 It happens so regularly that it's predictable. 00:14:04.080 --> 00:14:08.080 The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. 00:14:08.320 --> 00:14:13.759 I truly delight in God's command, but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. 00:14:14.399 --> 00:14:19.919 Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge. 00:14:20.159 --> 00:14:21.919 I've tried everything and nothing helps. 00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:23.200 I'm at the end of my rope. 00:14:23.360 --> 00:14:26.240 Is there no one who can do anything for me? 00:14:26.399 --> 00:14:28.240 Isn't that the real question? 00:14:28.639 --> 00:14:33.919 The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. 00:14:36.320 --> 00:14:37.440 You feel that? 00:14:39.120 --> 00:14:39.919 Been there? 00:14:41.039 --> 00:14:42.080 Walking in it? 00:14:42.720 --> 00:14:45.200 This tension that we feel. 00:14:48.960 --> 00:14:52.240 We brought our old mess into our new life. 00:14:52.399 --> 00:14:54.639 Our solution is we try harder. 00:14:55.519 --> 00:15:01.919 And we try harder and we do good for a little bit, and then we trip, then we fail, then we slide back. 00:15:03.600 --> 00:15:06.399 And it just feels like life's on repeat. 00:15:07.919 --> 00:15:10.799 It's here, shame is given the loudest voice in our lives. 00:15:10.879 --> 00:15:12.320 You're such a failure. 00:15:13.679 --> 00:15:18.399 How many times can you come to God with the same mess? 00:15:21.120 --> 00:15:25.360 After all Jesus has done for you, you keep doing this. 00:15:27.360 --> 00:15:28.000 The problem. 00:15:28.399 --> 00:15:32.559 I brought my old mess into my new life. 00:15:32.879 --> 00:15:38.000 God's solution is not guilt but grace. 00:15:41.679 --> 00:15:51.919 When you bring your old mess into your new life, your solution is to guilt yourself, to shame yourself. 00:15:52.799 --> 00:15:57.519 Somewhere along the way, we think that will motivate us and help us change. 00:15:57.679 --> 00:16:01.600 Guilt has never created sustained life change, period. 00:16:02.639 --> 00:16:05.600 God's solution is not guilt, but grace. 00:16:05.919 --> 00:16:17.679 Grace, the grace of God not only is the beginning of the Christian life, it is the beginning, the middle, and the end. 00:16:17.840 --> 00:16:22.960 Grace is God's undeserved favor in our lives, God's power to accomplish what we are powerless to do in our lives. 00:16:23.120 --> 00:16:26.240 Grace is how we're saved, grace will carry you through. 00:16:26.399 --> 00:16:31.039 And so listen to chapter 7, Paul's saying there's this tension. 00:16:31.440 --> 00:16:32.559 I have this tension. 00:16:32.639 --> 00:16:36.159 I brought my old life or my old mess into my new life. 00:16:36.320 --> 00:16:42.000 And then he says in Romans 8, therefore, there is no what? 00:16:43.440 --> 00:16:44.320 Okay, let's try it again. 00:16:44.559 --> 00:16:45.120 Try it again. 00:16:45.360 --> 00:16:50.960 Therefore, there is now no for those who are in Christ Jesus. 00:16:51.200 --> 00:17:08.720 He talks about this tension, he talks about this wrestling that you've experienced, that I've experienced, that fills us with such a sense of defeatedness, because guilt becomes our story, shame becomes the soundtrack of our lives, and Paul immediately follows it up in Romans 8:1. 00:17:09.119 --> 00:17:21.519 Therefore, therefore, there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 00:17:23.279 --> 00:17:26.160 Like, well, kind of a little bit, right? 00:17:27.599 --> 00:17:29.039 Probably a smidgen. 00:17:29.759 --> 00:17:34.400 You mean no condemnation at all? 00:17:37.680 --> 00:17:39.119 Not even a hint. 00:17:39.680 --> 00:17:43.279 You see, there's a big difference between condemnation and conviction. 00:17:43.440 --> 00:17:45.359 We get this confused all the time. 00:17:45.599 --> 00:17:52.400 Condemnation is a legal verdict of guilty, deserving punishment, living condemned. 00:17:52.640 --> 00:17:56.079 Condemnation's often vague, general, attacking your identity. 00:17:56.319 --> 00:17:57.279 You are worthless. 00:17:57.440 --> 00:17:58.960 You are broken beyond repair. 00:17:59.119 --> 00:18:00.079 You deserve this. 00:18:00.240 --> 00:18:01.519 You'll never change. 00:18:01.680 --> 00:18:02.880 You're a failure. 00:18:03.839 --> 00:18:09.359 Condemnation always moves us away from God and to hiding. 00:18:11.359 --> 00:18:14.960 You have a spiritual enemy that wants you to believe the lie. 00:18:15.440 --> 00:18:20.400 You are not lovable. 00:18:21.279 --> 00:18:22.799 You are not wantable. 00:18:25.039 --> 00:18:29.839 And the fact that you keep tripping over that just proves it. 00:18:31.599 --> 00:18:42.000 In fact, Robert McGee in his book Search for Significance says, this belief that we believe begin to believe is those who fell are unworthy of love and deserve to be punished. 00:18:45.599 --> 00:18:54.720 Conviction, on the other hand, is what the Spirit of God uses to lovingly highlight areas of our lives that need healing, surrender, or change. 00:18:55.119 --> 00:18:56.160 It's specific. 00:18:56.720 --> 00:19:00.640 Naming what needs attention so grace can do its work. 00:19:01.519 --> 00:19:04.480 Condemnation says you failed and you are a failure. 00:19:04.640 --> 00:19:08.559 Conviction says because you are loved and accepted, this doesn't belong in your life. 00:19:10.400 --> 00:19:12.480 Condemnation focuses on your failure. 00:19:12.640 --> 00:19:14.960 Conviction focuses on God's faithfulness. 00:19:16.640 --> 00:19:20.319 Condemnation comes from the accuser, conviction comes from the spirit. 00:19:20.480 --> 00:19:22.240 Condemnation drives you into hiding. 00:19:22.400 --> 00:19:25.440 Conviction draws you in to a light. 00:19:27.759 --> 00:19:39.359 The reason there is no condemnation is that the moment that you place your faith in Christ Jesus, I'm a mess. 00:19:39.599 --> 00:19:41.759 I can't unmess myself. 00:19:41.920 --> 00:19:43.279 Only Jesus can. 00:19:43.440 --> 00:19:44.880 Would you come into my life? 00:19:45.119 --> 00:19:46.880 Something happened. 00:19:49.039 --> 00:19:53.440 That something theologically is called justification. 00:19:53.839 --> 00:19:56.000 Yeah, we're gonna learn some theo here. 00:19:56.079 --> 00:19:56.319 All right? 00:19:56.559 --> 00:19:58.480 You say that word with me, justification. 00:19:59.839 --> 00:20:05.839 Justification is this in Christ, you have a new standing and a new identity. 00:20:06.079 --> 00:20:07.279 It's a legal term. 00:20:07.440 --> 00:20:13.519 You are declared righteous, fully forgiven, completely accepted, and adopted as a beloved child of God. 00:20:14.400 --> 00:20:26.640 Romans 5, 1 through 2 says, Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith and to this grace in which we now stand. 00:20:27.119 --> 00:20:28.799 How do we stand right now? 00:20:29.359 --> 00:20:30.000 Grace. 00:20:30.640 --> 00:20:32.079 Grace got you in. 00:20:32.480 --> 00:20:34.160 Grace is how you stand. 00:20:34.559 --> 00:20:36.720 Grace sees you through. 00:20:36.960 --> 00:20:41.119 The picture the Bible uses over and over is that of adoption. 00:20:42.079 --> 00:20:48.400 Under Roman law, adoption was legal, public, and permanent. 00:20:49.279 --> 00:21:08.559 Once a father adopted a son, the son received a new legal identity, his old debts were canceled, he gained full inheritance and rights, he came under the absolute authority and protection of his new father, and he could never, ever be disowned. 00:21:13.519 --> 00:21:20.480 You now have a new identity and standing in Christ. 00:21:21.519 --> 00:21:29.680 Adopted, beloved, daughter, son of the King Most High. 00:21:33.599 --> 00:21:39.839 Years ago I came across this story of a family that adopted this little girl. 00:21:39.920 --> 00:21:41.759 She was about ten years old. 00:21:42.960 --> 00:21:52.640 Her background, she came from a really broken home, as so many kids do, that are taken out of homes, brought into the foster care system, and uh then adopted. 00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:59.279 Um they found that she um was hiding food in her room. 00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:06.799 And they came, you know, in and would find stuff hidden underneath her bed in different places. 00:22:07.440 --> 00:22:12.799 And they began to ask, you know, and do some research, where did this come from? 00:22:12.880 --> 00:22:14.160 And they've come to find out. 00:22:14.720 --> 00:22:21.519 This little girl lived in a home where the fridge, the pantry, they were padlocked. 00:22:21.839 --> 00:22:24.000 You did not have access to it. 00:22:24.319 --> 00:22:28.799 So you couldn't just get food anytime you wanted or when you needed. 00:22:28.960 --> 00:22:38.559 And on top of that, one of the ways she was punished was placed in a room for several days and locked in there. 00:22:39.599 --> 00:22:49.359 She just learned a coping mechanism to figure out how to survive, is when she had access to food, she would pocket a little bit of it. 00:22:50.160 --> 00:22:53.920 And she would just kind of put it and hide it. 00:22:55.200 --> 00:23:00.400 So in those lonely days, locked in a room, she would have some food. 00:23:03.200 --> 00:23:07.440 Do you know how the new adoptive parents responded? 00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:14.240 They didn't go to the little girl and go, What in the world were you thinking? 00:23:15.440 --> 00:23:16.240 Stop it. 00:23:16.400 --> 00:23:17.920 What's wrong with you? 00:23:18.319 --> 00:23:27.359 What they did was they took this little girl to the fridge and said, I know this is going to take a while, but what you need to know is the fridge will never be locked. 00:23:27.519 --> 00:23:34.640 You have access all the time because you have a new home and a new reality. 00:23:35.680 --> 00:23:41.359 And it's going to take a while, and I get it, but you're loved. 00:23:44.000 --> 00:23:53.599 See, your new identity in Christ is your reality, even though you keep going back to your old mess. 00:23:54.720 --> 00:24:00.960 And that's what we the problem is we think our old mess signifies our old identity. 00:24:02.559 --> 00:24:07.119 See, there's a different word for this, this process of becoming more like Christ. 00:24:07.279 --> 00:24:08.319 Justification. 00:24:14.319 --> 00:24:14.640 Love. 00:24:15.039 --> 00:24:18.480 That is who you are in Christ. 00:24:18.640 --> 00:24:22.720 No matter what you're going through, no matter what you do, it's true. 00:24:23.200 --> 00:24:26.640 And nothing you can do can undo that. 00:24:27.039 --> 00:24:30.079 And then there's this word sanctification. 00:24:31.599 --> 00:24:43.440 Sanctification is the lifelong process of learning to live out what's already true of you in Christ through the empowering grace of God. 00:24:44.880 --> 00:25:07.119 Sanctification, like this little girl, is the lifelong process of unlearning old habits, unlearning old ways of being, unlearning some things that were the ways we coped, the way we got by, the things that just helped us, and learning to live out our new identity in Christ. 00:25:13.279 --> 00:25:19.680 Sanctification is grace teaching you how to live at home in your new identity. 00:25:19.920 --> 00:25:20.880 I love that. 00:25:29.759 --> 00:25:39.039 When I thought about sanctification, I thought about it like a graph like this, Christ-likeness is, you know, if we're going up this way, and then time following Jesus right here. 00:25:39.200 --> 00:25:45.039 And where you go, like, okay, the process of sanctification probably should look something like this. 00:25:45.200 --> 00:25:47.599 Like I come to know Jesus right here. 00:25:47.759 --> 00:25:53.119 And then as I come to know him, I'm kind of growing in him, and I have peaks and I have valleys. 00:25:53.279 --> 00:25:56.559 But pretty much it's just up and to the right. 00:25:56.640 --> 00:25:59.519 I'm a terrible line drawer, uh, aren't I? 00:25:59.759 --> 00:26:04.640 Um but it's just kind of up and to the right. 00:26:04.960 --> 00:26:16.720 Like the things that I struggled with in year one or two, uh, those are old, and I'm kind of dealing with new things over here, and and I'm just kind of progressing and I'm becoming more and more like Christ. 00:26:16.960 --> 00:26:24.720 The problem is, is this is how I feel sometimes or often about my own journey. 00:26:24.880 --> 00:26:31.839 And especially as I was wrestling with this, is instead of a graph, I feel like I'm just stuck on a loop. 00:26:32.720 --> 00:26:34.160 You ever feel that? 00:26:34.559 --> 00:26:37.759 Yeah, you're just stuck on it's like a closed loop. 00:26:37.839 --> 00:26:38.720 And here it comes again. 00:26:38.799 --> 00:26:40.640 I hit the same issue again. 00:26:42.559 --> 00:26:43.200 Right? 00:26:43.359 --> 00:26:46.079 Oh God, I don't want to please tell me, please help me. 00:26:46.160 --> 00:26:48.720 I come around, I just keep hitting the same thing. 00:26:48.960 --> 00:26:59.839 And we feel like we're stuck on this track or this loop, and we just keep hitting the same thing over and over and over again. 00:27:01.440 --> 00:27:08.240 And be honest, it's defeating, isn't it? 00:27:09.920 --> 00:27:11.519 It's discouraging. 00:27:14.640 --> 00:27:25.119 Man, I keep bringing my old same mess that at 15 and at 25 and at 35 and at 45, and I'm not older than that. 00:27:25.359 --> 00:27:30.000 Um here's the realization that I had. 00:27:33.680 --> 00:27:36.960 And maybe maybe this has been your experience too. 00:27:38.880 --> 00:27:41.680 I'm not actually on a loop. 00:27:43.200 --> 00:27:51.519 Yes, I keep hitting some of the same things over and over again, but it's more like a spiral staircase. 00:27:55.680 --> 00:28:05.039 And yeah, I hit some of these at 15, at 25, at 35, at 45. 00:28:05.440 --> 00:28:10.640 I may be hitting some of the same issues, but I'm not hitting them at the same altitude. 00:28:12.880 --> 00:28:25.839 So my personal story I've shared with you before, I uh when I was like eight years old, I walked into a room where a movie was playing, I saw uh pornographic images, it just impacted me. 00:28:26.000 --> 00:28:33.039 My teenage years was when the computer, um, like internet, not the computer, I'm not that old. 00:28:33.200 --> 00:28:41.039 Uh the internet was just coming online and uh you could start to search, and it was dreadfully slow, by the way. 00:28:41.119 --> 00:28:46.960 I mean, it was dial up, it took like four or five minutes to download one image. 00:28:47.119 --> 00:28:49.200 I got hooked on pornography. 00:28:51.039 --> 00:28:54.240 Just like a part of my life. 00:28:55.440 --> 00:28:56.160 17. 00:28:56.319 --> 00:28:59.759 I give my life a fresh lordship to Christ. 00:28:59.920 --> 00:29:01.759 I'm still struggling with it. 00:29:03.039 --> 00:29:13.519 Then I go to college and I'm actually studying theology, wanting to follow Jesus with my whole heart, and I'm still struggling with it. 00:29:16.720 --> 00:29:27.519 And there's like the amount of shame and the amount of guilt, like it's just a failure. 00:29:29.359 --> 00:29:36.480 And the enemy whispers, and I grind you're just a screw up. 00:29:37.039 --> 00:29:38.640 You'll never change. 00:29:39.200 --> 00:29:40.960 This is just who you are. 00:29:43.200 --> 00:29:49.440 I just felt like I'm on this track hitting repeat, nothing's changing. 00:29:57.119 --> 00:30:09.119 The thing that had the most powerful transformation in my life was a dream I had uh in this area, at least when it comes to pornography. 00:30:09.279 --> 00:30:13.359 I was in college, even had thoughts of self-harm and all those other things that come. 00:30:14.319 --> 00:30:16.000 And I had this dream one night. 00:30:16.079 --> 00:30:27.440 I I um in my dream, I walked into my dorm room, the lights were all off, and there sitting at the desk in my dorm was this blonde-haired boy, eight years old. 00:30:27.599 --> 00:30:28.480 That was me. 00:30:30.160 --> 00:30:38.160 And I saw the light hue of the screen kind of on the face of this little boy, and my heart broke. 00:30:39.119 --> 00:30:49.279 Because for the first time, instead of shaming myself, guilting myself, condemning myself, I began to see myself the way my heavenly father saw me. 00:30:51.759 --> 00:30:55.279 Like he's not angry, his heart just breaks. 00:30:56.720 --> 00:30:59.680 He's not down, he just wants to help. 00:31:02.480 --> 00:31:08.079 His heart is for your good, for my good. 00:31:09.039 --> 00:31:16.960 See, the Christian life is not about behavior modification, it's about identity formation. 00:31:17.119 --> 00:31:23.519 The more we understand who we are in Christ, gosh, I gotta tell you, your desires begin. 00:31:23.599 --> 00:31:28.640 You're like, oh, I'm living into my new identity, adopted son and daughter. 00:31:41.920 --> 00:31:44.720 The Apostle Paul talked about a pattern in his life. 00:31:44.880 --> 00:31:47.119 He called it a thorn in the flesh. 00:31:47.680 --> 00:31:49.279 We're not told what it was. 00:31:49.599 --> 00:31:53.680 It could have been a physical issue, a spiritual struggle, a persistent weakness. 00:31:55.119 --> 00:32:03.279 What we do know is God prayed, or Paul prayed for God to take it away, deliver it from him, and God gave him a different response. 00:32:06.000 --> 00:32:10.400 He said, My grace is sufficient for you. 00:32:13.599 --> 00:32:19.599 For my power is made perfect in weakness. 00:32:23.359 --> 00:32:30.319 The same grace that met you when you first said yes to Jesus. 00:32:30.480 --> 00:32:36.640 I'm a mess, I can't unmess myself, only Jesus can, is the same grace that meets you today. 00:32:37.279 --> 00:32:40.480 And it's the same grace that's gonna meet you this afternoon. 00:32:40.720 --> 00:32:50.640 And it's the same grace that's gonna meet you when you're in whatever dark room you are or whatever place you're at where you're going like, I don't think Jesus wants me or wants to be around me. 00:32:50.720 --> 00:32:51.680 I feel like such a failure. 00:32:51.839 --> 00:32:54.240 He says, Grace poured out on you. 00:32:56.640 --> 00:33:11.039 His unearned, undeserved favor, God's power working for you to do what you cannot do on your own. 00:33:12.559 --> 00:33:23.920 And so that confession of messy spirituality isn't just like a one-time thing, it's a daily thing. 00:33:28.000 --> 00:33:29.440 God, today I just feel it. 00:33:29.519 --> 00:33:33.039 I'm a mess, and I know I recognize I can't unmess myself. 00:33:33.200 --> 00:33:43.119 There is no power like powerlessness because when we finally recognize that we are powerless, we will turn to the one who has all power to meet our needs. 00:33:43.279 --> 00:33:50.640 But as long as we try to maintain our own self-sufficiency, we'll never experience the sufficiency of Christ. 00:33:51.359 --> 00:33:54.319 I can't, but you can. 00:33:55.920 --> 00:34:01.279 And once more I come to the throne of grace. 00:34:06.000 --> 00:34:17.679 And I think what you'll find like me, as you journey over these years, yeah, there's some times you hit the same thing. 00:34:17.840 --> 00:34:20.079 I don't I don't hit it the same way. 00:34:20.159 --> 00:34:25.199 I don't struggle with porn, so you your pastor can, you're like, but I still struggle with lust. 00:34:26.000 --> 00:34:28.239 I hit it in a different way, in a different altitude. 00:34:28.400 --> 00:34:33.920 I'm not where I want to be, but thank God I'm not I'm not where I once was. 00:34:34.800 --> 00:34:39.679 By his grace, he is forming and changing me. 00:34:41.599 --> 00:34:43.519 So I don't know where you walked in. 00:34:45.440 --> 00:34:50.079 Maybe you're on the verge of giving up, feel defeated, a failure. 00:34:52.480 --> 00:34:58.239 Maybe you feel so bad coming back to God with the same thing for the thousandth time. 00:35:00.880 --> 00:35:03.360 In fact, um, I used to play a lot of music. 00:35:03.760 --> 00:35:11.840 I remember writing a song, uh worship song, or my own kind of worship prayer song, and the line goes, here I am again. 00:35:15.679 --> 00:35:20.880 But the same thing I've prayed a thousand times. 00:35:24.559 --> 00:35:35.599 What I want you to know is right where you're at, what you're walking through, his grace is more than enough for you. 00:35:37.760 --> 00:35:40.880 And would you invite him into the messiness? 00:35:45.119 --> 00:35:57.360 Invite him into the places that you push down or you hide away so that his grace can meet you there. 00:36:00.400 --> 00:36:02.960 Because here's what I know, and this is what I've clinged to. 00:36:03.119 --> 00:36:06.239 This is one of those passages that I've clinged to. 00:36:06.559 --> 00:36:12.800 What I'm sharing with you is just like this is basically Ryan's learnings over 20 plus years. 00:36:17.360 --> 00:36:26.800 What I am confident of for your life and for my life, and the promise that I cling to and hold on to is what he began, he will complete. 00:36:29.679 --> 00:36:31.679 And you need to hold on to this. 00:36:33.679 --> 00:36:37.119 Because I can tell you there's days you're like, man, I don't really feel like it. 00:36:37.199 --> 00:36:39.920 I feel like I'm just not even gonna amount to anything. 00:36:40.000 --> 00:36:41.440 I feel so far behind in life. 00:36:41.519 --> 00:36:43.199 I feel like a mess, Ryan. 00:36:43.360 --> 00:36:44.960 You're right, messy spirituality. 00:36:45.039 --> 00:36:46.880 And Jesus gave you a promise. 00:36:47.119 --> 00:36:49.760 What he began in you, he will complete. 00:36:49.920 --> 00:36:53.920 And so if he hasn't completed it yet, he's not done with you yet. 00:36:54.400 --> 00:37:04.239 Being confident of this, the apostle Paul would write, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ. 00:37:07.360 --> 00:37:17.519 Being confident of this, daughter, son, yeah, you brought your old mess into your new life. 00:37:19.920 --> 00:37:22.719 Your heavenly father loves you, he's so for you. 00:37:24.880 --> 00:37:27.679 Fridge never gonna be locked. 00:37:29.039 --> 00:37:37.679 And it's the consistency of his grace that forms us to where we start to just realize, ah, I get to live in the freedom and the light. 00:37:39.519 --> 00:37:40.880 It's the invitation in. 00:37:44.400 --> 00:37:52.719 And it's not based on my faithfulness, but my ability or your ability. 00:37:54.480 --> 00:37:56.159 Who began the good work? 00:37:59.519 --> 00:38:00.400 Jesus. 00:38:02.239 --> 00:38:04.159 Who will finish the work? 00:38:07.599 --> 00:38:09.519 That's really good news. 00:38:10.400 --> 00:38:12.400 That's really good news. 00:38:14.960 --> 00:38:21.840 Because somehow we get into this idea and mentality that, like, yes, we're saved by grace, and then now it's all on me. 00:38:21.920 --> 00:38:24.239 I gotta really show up and prove myself. 00:38:24.400 --> 00:38:27.599 Jesus, like, hey, listen, child, you can't even do it. 00:38:28.320 --> 00:38:29.920 So let me do it through you. 00:38:30.000 --> 00:38:32.159 When you admit you can't do it, I want to do it through you. 00:38:32.239 --> 00:38:32.960 I want to work through you. 00:38:33.039 --> 00:38:34.480 I can't, but you can. 00:38:35.760 --> 00:38:40.000 And I'm gonna see you all the way through. 00:38:42.079 --> 00:38:44.400 Jesus, thanks for my friends. 00:38:45.360 --> 00:38:46.960 Thanks for this time. 00:38:52.719 --> 00:38:59.920 God, I just I know that in this room, as we're talking about like the the honest stuff. 00:39:04.800 --> 00:39:08.960 That you want to do a deep freeing work. 00:39:15.039 --> 00:39:27.280 May your grace just pour over each person, that they just would have a fresh reality of your love, your kindness, that they'd understand their identity in you. 00:39:27.679 --> 00:39:31.679 Not because of anything they've done, all because of what you've done. 00:39:36.400 --> 00:39:37.920 Would you make us a people? 00:39:39.360 --> 00:39:40.000 Daily. 00:39:41.280 --> 00:39:44.159 The habit of our life is just to come to you. 00:39:44.400 --> 00:39:45.119 I can't. 00:39:45.280 --> 00:39:46.800 I can't, but you can. 00:39:47.119 --> 00:39:50.079 Would you step into this mess, Jesus? 00:39:50.239 --> 00:39:51.679 Step into this place. 00:39:52.320 --> 00:39:54.159 Would you bring life? 00:39:54.639 --> 00:39:56.159 Would you meet me here? 00:39:56.480 --> 00:39:58.639 We hope you are blessed by this message. 00:39:58.880 --> 00:40:03.280 Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded. 00:40:03.440 --> 00:40:05.519 And hey, we'd love to connect with you. 00:40:05.679 --> 00:40:11.599 Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.com slash card.